Thursday, April 20, 2017

Sensory Challenged

Banter. He loves to banter. The shadow man went on about something or another in his disembodied voice. I stood in the infinite blackness watching his black on black silhouette dance around a circle flipping invisible switches.  I think he likes the sound of his own voice. Honestly, I like the sound of his voice, but I would never tell him that. His ego gives him enough encouragement. I do not need to add to it.

"Are you paying attention?" he asked. "I asked you a question."

"Oh sorry, I thought you were bragging about being with a queen or some other important historical figure."

"Well, I was. But then I asked a question," he said defensively.

"You don't care about what I think, You will go where you want, when you want. I'm just an audience," I said.

"You know, I can drop your bad attitude off on a nearby planet," he said.

"Yes, Dad. Sorry, Dad. Whatever you say, Dad," I grumbled.

"Jess, what is the issue? It's sounding like you are testing me again. You are so combative!"

"I really am sorry," I replied. "I am angry about not being able to see anything. I took my anger out on you, sorry." I huffed. "You keep telling me about all the things you do, places you've been, and people you met. How can I do with you if I can't see? How can I be in a dangerous situation if I am blind?"

"You aren't blind,"

"Then what do you call this?" I yelled.

"Sensory challenged."

"Don't be funny," I said.

"Let's try something different. You have seen spaceport. Let's try a planet. Maybe, you just can't see the TARDIS," he said. He flipped up a lever and the metal floor I stood on gave a jerk. My ears went deaf at the explosion of sound. I was flung into an invisible metal thing. I grabbed on to it for dear life.

 As I was being flung like a rag doll in the hands of a child, there was a tolling of bells. Just one. The sound left me as quickly as it had come, and I only heard a small bit of the shadow man's response of "oops."

Then a moment came, like a GIF. I was standing at a circular console. In the center of it was spiraling lights, twirling like an Archimedes screw and glowing like Christmas lights. Each light was a ball attached to a cylinder, connected to the screw; like a spinning stalk of glowing Brussels Sprouts. As it spun around, the balls on cylinders went in and out.

The console was covered in odd bits of buttons, switches, levers, dials, and small touchscreens. My hands were gripping some kind of air filter, my fingers fit right in. But right in front of me, on the console, was a potted flower. Despite the jerking and flailing, that flower pot had not moved. Everything else looked like it had moved. But the beautiful flower, in that pot, with its gentle tendrils, had not shifted a millimeter.

My right hand let go of the air filter and reached out to touch the flower. In slow motion, I heard the shadow man yell not to touch it. I turned my head, my hand hovered near the flower. That all happened a few times, like a loop.

Then, I can see the shadow man, clearly but, still, in slow motion. His face changed quickly, so many faces, like a montage of a movie. He points a metal light at me. It makes a funny whistling sound. Time speeds back up again. The flower shoots a thorn in my hand.  I look at it. The thorn has latched on and injected something into my hand. I look down at my hand. I let go of the air filter with my left hand. I grab at my right with my left. "Uh oh," I say. Everything goes black again.

I get scared. "What the hell just happened!" I yell, really loud. Heart rate increased, everything is black again. My hand feels like it's throbbing. 'Holy shit! Shadow man! What the hell?"

"You are going to pass out again, aren't you?" he asked.

"Shut up!" I manage before I fall to the floor.

"Sensory challenged. What am I to do with you?" I heard him say as I lost consciousness.




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